Thou Art I
by Little.Misanthrope
Summary: People are dying mysteriously in a small Washington state town.  Could the deaths be related to the strange and creepy Midnight Channel?  Hetalia/Persona 4 crossover.  Main pairing: UKUS


Right, so this was originally written for the USUK comm on LJ. They're having a summer event thingy going on, so I wrote this for the game theme. Hopefully, I'll get chapter 2 up ASAP.

Please enjoy a crossover of my two current fandoms!

Main Pairing (for now): Arthur/Alfred (UK/US)

Disclaimer: I don't know Hetalia or Persona 4.

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><p>"I regret to inform you all that Kiku Honda has passed away. I want all of you to head straight home after school and to leave the police alone. Let them do their jobs!" The principal stepped down from the podium and exited the gym. The silence after his words didn't last long, for as soon as he was gone, almost all the students started talking. Confusion and fear laced the tone of their voices.<p>

Arthur Kirkland turned away from the crowd of students, not wanting anyone to see how upset he was. Kiku had been his best friend, after all. They never really talked about much when they were together, but that was what Arthur liked best. He liked being able to enjoy some peace and quiet with a friend who understood him.

But now Kiku was gone… Arthur spared a quick glance at the new kid, some sophomore who had just transferred in from Seattle. The kid looked really upset and he couldn't blame him. So far, the only person who had become friends with him had been Kiku. They had bonded over video games, apparently.

The kid noticed him and started heading over to where Arthur was standing. Damn, if he left now, that would be rude and make it seem like he was trying to avoid this kid. So, Arthur stayed put, hoping that this conversation wouldn't take long. He just wanted to go home…

"Um… You were Kiku's friend too, right?" The sophomore tried to smile, but it was obviously forced.

"Don't pretend to be happy. I know you're upset and so am I. Now, I just want to go home, so maybe I'll see you around later… What was your name again?" Arthur was still trying to be polite, hoping that if he was nice enough, the kid would hurry up and stop talking to him. Unfortunately, whenever he tried being nice, people seemed to take that as their cue to go on blabbering about themselves.

The kid dropped his phony smile, a look of real hurt replacing it. "I'm Alfred Jones… Um… Kiku told me you were his friend, so I thought maybe we could be friends?"

Was this kid for real? Kiku had just… just died and now this idiot wanted to be friends? How stupid could he get?

"Maybe later. I really don't want to talk to anyone right now." What he really wanted to do was find a big TV and see if it would react to his touch the same way his TV at home had. After all, he had heard a weird voice in his head and when he had touched the TV, his hand had gone inside! He had unfortunately gotten stuck, since his TV had been too small to fit through…

Maybe he was going crazy, thinking that he could go inside TVs, but he had a feeling that whatever was in the TV and Kiku's appearance on the Midnight Channel had something to do with his friend's death. Why else would those things have happened all around the same time?

Alfred frowned, though he nodded and backed away. "I understand… We can talk later, okay? I just had some questions about this Midnight Channel thing…"

Arthur had been about to walk away when he stared at Alfred, wondering why exactly this new kid wanted to talk to him about the Midnight Channel.

"Well, y'see… Gilbert told me about it and I thought it was pretty dumb, y'know? But I tried it anyway and… and I saw Kiku on the TV! But he was acting really weird and now he's dead! This had to mean something, right?"

Well damn. So Alfred had watched the Midnight Channel too. He had seen that strange show with Kiku as the star that had appeared right before the Japanese boy's death and he also suspected that the show and the sudden death were connected. "I have a question for you, Alfred."

"Sure! What is it?" Man, this kid looked way too eager to help him out. But he needed to have an answer and Alfred had been Kiku's other friend…

"When you watched the Midnight Channel, did you touch your TV?"

"Touch it? Um, no. Why would I touch it?" Alfred stared at the older student, seriously confused. Shouldn't they be talking about what had happened to Kiku, not whether he had touched his TV?

"Oh… Never mind, then. I have to go to Junes before I go home. I suppose I will see you around." Arthur doubted that he and Alfred would ever hang out, now that their one common factor, Kiku, was gone.

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><p><em>Junes is huge! I know my parents run this place but I still can't get over the size of it. Dammit, where are the bloody televisions!<em>

Stomping through the shopping center, Arthur glared at almost everyone he came across. He was in no mood to stop and talk with people because he was on a mission! He would find a big screen TV and go through it. There had to be clues about Kiku's death inside the weird world he had briefly seen the night before.

Arthur finally made his way to the back of the electronics department, where huge televisions were on display. There was a big one close to the floor, which would be perfect for him to try and slip inside. If this didn't work, well, he'd look silly but if it did work…

Casting a nervous glance around the store, he put his hand against the TV screen and pushed gently. His hand slipped right through the screen, ripples moving away from it as though he had just stuck his hand into a pond.

"Oh shit, it really does work!"

"A-Arthur? Why is your hand in a TV…?" Alfred's voice caused Arthur to panic slightly and he turned his head to find Alfred staring at him with wide eyes.

"Well, you see… I was just –" Whatever Arthur had been about to say had been cut off as he had been yanked into the TV, his legs the only thing still sticking out.

At the sight, Alfred went into panic mode. How would he explain to the manager of Junes, his current boss and Arthur's father, that Arthur had fallen into a TV? Hurrying over to Arthur, he grabbed his legs, trying to pull him out but whatever was on the other side wouldn't let go.

Losing his footing, Alfred fell forward, crashing into Arthur and sending both of them falling through the TV.

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><p>"Ow ow ow ow! I think I broke something!"<p>

"Would you get off me, you git? You're heavy!"

The two students had managed to go through the TV but they had fallen onto some kind of stage. Alfred had somehow managed to land on top of Arthur and was currently crushing him. What on earth did that idiot eat?

"Sorry, sorry!" Scrambling to his feet, Alfred helped Arthur stand up, feeling terrible for not only crushing him but also for not saving him from the TV. After making sure that Arthur wasn't hurt, he glanced around the place, squinting slightly. Removing his glasses, he cleaned them before putting back on, hoping that would improve his vision. He had no such luck, as the entire world seemed to be covered in a dense fog. Arthur was standing next to him and he could barely see him.

"What is this place? It looks like a movie studio or something." Nervously adjusting his glasses once again, Alfred looked over at Arthur, hoping the other teen would have a better idea as to where exactly they were.

"We're in the TV, somehow. There's nothing like this in town and the last place we were was Junes, in front of a TV. So, that's the only thing that makes sense." With a determined nod, as though his statement had cleared up any confusion as to where they were, Arthur finally turned to look at Alfred.

"We might as well look around."

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><p>The two of them wandered around for a while, trying to find a way off the studio stage, when suddenly, an oddly shaped figure stepped out of the fog.<p>

"Who are you two and why are you in my home?" The creature stared at Alfred and Arthur, a frown on its face. It looked like an odd type of bear… but bears couldn't talk, so what the hell was this thing?

"We could ask you the same thing. And you actually live here? How can you even see anything?" Alfred leaned close to the bear, trying to see it clearly despite the fog. His eyesight was already terrible, so this fog wasn't helping things!

The bear frowned at them some more before holding out two pairs of glasses. "Put these on! Then we can talk about why you're throwing people into my home!"

Hesitantly, Arthur took the glasses, handing one pair to Alfred and keeping the other pair for himself. They looked like normal glasses, so what would putting them on accomplish? Then again, he was in some weird world that existed in a TV, so anything was possible.

After slipping the glasses on, Arthur looked around, instantly noticing that his vision had cleared. The fog still existed but he could see through it as easily as if it weren't there. He glanced at Alfred, who was fumbling to put the glasses over his own. "Here, let me help." With a small smile, he helped Alfred adjust the glasses, watching the younger student's reaction to the visual change.

"Whoa! It's like the fog is totally gone! This is so cool! Arthur, isn't this awesome?" Alfred grinned like an idiot, turning to look at the bear… thing. "So! Who are you and why would you think we were throwing people in here? I just found out today that there's a world in a TV! Why would I ever throw anyone in here?"

The bear turned to look at Alfred, still frowning. "Someone keeps throwing people in here and the Shadows get really upset! But when the fog clears, the people are gone. It's still annoying, though!"

"Well, why don't we help you? We think one of our friends might have wound up here and it would be nice if you could show us where." Arthur gave the bear a small smile, hoping that it would help calm it down. What he wasn't expecting was for the bear to let out a scream and hide behind Alfred. "What was that for?"

"Y-Your eyebrows, sir! They look like they're going to eat me!" The bear continued to hide behind Alfred, who just stood there and laughed.

Arthur just stared at the two of them before stomping off in a random direction. "You gits! There's nothing wrong with my eyebrows! They are perfect!" With that, he continued walking, ignoring the two idiots that had started to follow him.

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><p>Introductions were made as the trio walked and the two students found out that their bear companion's name was Teddie. Well, that was a rather obvious name. Teddie had apparently lived inside the TV world for as long as he could remember and it had only ever been him and these Shadow things living here. But then two people had been thrown into his world; the announcer that had died shortly after Alfred moved into his uncle's house and Kiku.<p>

"The people disappeared when the fog vanished. Whenever the fog leaves my world, it goes to your world. It's dangerous when the fog leaves, because the Shadows are really angry then! Teddie has to hide whenever that happens!" Teddie trotted along between Alfred and Arthur, trying to explain his world to them.

"Wait, you said that the people vanished when the fog did, right?" Looking down at Teddie for confirmation, Arthur frowned as he slowly pieced things together. "The announcer and Kiku were found after a heavy fog had set in… Maybe they were in here and these Shadow things attacked them when the fog lifted. What do you think, Alfred?"

"Huh? That makes sense, I guess. Though I still don't understand this world at all…" Frowning as well, Alfred looked around. "Hey, doesn't this place look like the shopping district? I recognize some of the shops here! Didn't Kiku's parents own a little Japanese store? I'm sure it was around here somewhere…" Without another word, Alfred hurried off, checking the names of the stores he ran past. While this world had a creepy red and black vortex for a sky, everything else was just like the shopping district in the real world, so Kiku's shop should exist here too.

Soon enough, he came to a stop in front of the little store. "Found it! Maybe something happened to Kiku in here!"

Arthur had barely caught up with Alfred when the younger student ran through the creepy vortex door and into the shop. "Bloody hell, if he gets hurt…" Shaking his head, he followed Alfred inside, with Teddie right behind him.

The shop looked almost exactly like it did in the real world. The only difference was the lack of any real lighting but thankfully, his glasses seemed to make it possible to see in any situation.

Sudden shouting drew his attention to the ceiling, but even though the voices seemed to be coming from up there, the store was empty. The voice was familiar… After a few moments, he realized that it was Kiku's father's voice and the man seemed to be shouting angrily at his son. The argument was all in Japanese, but he caught Kiku's name quite often.

"Kiku never mentioned anything like this… Why didn't he tell me about this?" Arthur focused a glare on the floor, trying to tune out the angry shouts. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't help but notice that Alfred's name was brought up in the conversation. That was strange… Alfred hadn't been here for very long, so why was the conversation topic switching to him?

Speaking of Alfred, where was that idiot, anyway? A quick glance around the shop showed that Alfred was standing off in a corner, staring at someone.

That someone just so happened to be Alfred.

"What the bloody hell is going on here? Why are there two Alfred's? One is more than enough." Confused, Arthur walked over to who he assumed was the real Alfred. The other one had a dark aura surrounding it and instead of the bright blue eyes the real Alfred had, its eyes were yellow.

"Aw, c'mon Alfred! Stop looking so scared! You know that everything I say is true!" The fake Alfred laughed and Arthur instantly decided that he hated this thing. It was really creepy, hearing that warped voice being said by someone with Alfred's face.

"I d-don't know what you're talking about…" Alfred seemed to share Arthur's dislike for this thing, even backing away from it. "Look, whoever you are, stop using my face to say crap like that!"

"But Alfred, you know you only decided to follow Arthur here because you were bored! You don't care if this place has something to do with Kiku's death! You just used him because he had the best games! And now that you found this place, who needs games, right? This is all just one big adventure! Just another way for you to escape the reality of your parents abandoning you!" With a sneer, the fake Alfred steeped closer to the real one, getting right up in his face.

"You just want to forget about everything in the real world, don'tcha Alfred? The way your parents dumped you and your brother on your uncle because they had important business trips to take. Hah! They just wanted to get rid of you! Not even your uncle likes you! He likes your brother so much more and you hate Matthew for that. Hate him for speaking French and getting on your uncle's good side. Hate him for being the good twin, for everyone relying on him when they need help! You're supposed to be the hero, not him!"

Alfred's eyes widened as his double's vocal onslaught continued and he covered his ears, unable to listen to the horrible words any longer. "Shut up! YOU'RE NOT ME!"

As soon as the words left Alfred's mouth, the darkness around the fake Alfred increased, knocking the real Alfred out. The darkness was changing the fake Alfred into something hideous and from within the cloud of energy came Alfred's twisted voice.

"I am a Shadow… The true self! I'll crush anyone who gets in my way!"

Teddie grabbed Arthur's arm, dragging him away from the Shadow Alfred and looking for an escape. They had no way of fighting, so they had to run!

"Wait!" Arthur pulled away from Teddie and turned to face the monster forming before him. A voice was pounding in his head, a strangely familiar voice, though he could have sworn he had never heard it before in his life.

_"Thou art I… and I am thou…"_

Clutching at his head, Arthur muttered the one word that was overtaking his thoughts.

"Per…so…na…"

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><p>Uh, there's the first chapter! Shadow!Alfred was too much fun to write. More characters will show up soon.<p>

Please review and let me know what you think!


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